Gov. Cuomo strode into office largely on the power of his pledge to reduce the state’s crushing tax burden. His campaign’s centerpiece was a 2 percent cap on property taxes, an initiative that New York’s long-suffering small businesses have supported for many years.

In the first eight weeks of his administration, Cuomo has made it clear that he intends to fulfill this campaign pledge. His address to the Legislature, in which he said that New York has no future as the national leader in high taxes and government spending, struck a resounding chord with small businesses and taxpayers.

But entrenched special interests in Albany are fighting the property-tax cap and the other necessary reforms that Cuomo has proposed. The Assembly Democratic leadership has stubbornly opposed a property-tax cap for years. In fact, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari recently stated that property-tax relief isn’t a top priority. Really?

Consider:

* New York has the highest local taxes in America — 78 percent above the national average.

* Nine of the top 10 counties nationally in property-tax rates are in upstate New York.

* 39 percent of all taxes paid by businesses in 2009 came from property taxes (Ernst & Young Report).

* The median property tax in New York in 2009 was $3,755 (Tax Foundation Report). The state comptroller has reported that property taxes rose 73 percent from 1998 to 2008, more than twice the inflation rate.

* New York ranks dead last in terms of its tax environment, according to a national survey.

* More people have left New York in recent years than have left any other state.

Property taxes are the largest tax on business in New York state and are the fastest-growing component of most New Yorkers’ tax bills. Property-tax relief is an overwhelming priority for the state’s small businesses, which produce most of our new jobs. It’s critical for the thousands of middle-class and fixed-income residents who can’t afford to remain in their homes because of runaway property taxes.

That’s why we are asking Cuomo, whose actions have encouraged small businesses, to include the property-tax cap as part of the budget amendments that he’ll introduce next week. We urge him to press Silver to put aside narrow political interests and follow the lead of Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who stood up for New Yorkers and put the bill on the Senate floor.

Now is the time for meaningful, long-term property-tax relief — beginning with a cap. The governor needs to make a profound statement that New York is truly open for business and put the property-tax cap in his budget amendments.

Mike Durant is interim director of the New York office of the National Federation of Independent Business, the country’s largest advocate for small businesses.